Kevin Cogan started from pole position; however, to the delight of the Cleveland crowd, local rookie driver Bobby Rahal (from nearby Medina) won the race.

Prior to the start of the race, the track was slightly reconfigured, eliminating the left-right combination of turns one and two.

The new layout measured 2.369 miles, and the segment eliminated became instead an extended exit to the pit road.

It was commemorated by a painting of memorable grand prix events, with the background being every winning car entering the first turn.

CART officials elected to drop the race from the schedule after a dispute with the promoter over the sanctioning fee.

The original course layout would be transformed into an oval configuration approximately 1.2 miles in length.

Weeks later, however, it was determined that construction necessary for the oval configuration would require FAA approval, and the city deemed the improvements excessive and not enhancing to the airport.

On September 9, 1999, Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White announced he was withdrawing his support of the project, and the IRL dropped the event.

The all-time outright unofficial track record on the original circuit layout is 1:04.636 seconds, set by Mario Andretti in a Lola T89/00, during qualifying for the 1989 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland.